Studying mathematics learning in collective activity

This paper describes a study of the interplay between social and developmental processes in childrenʹs mathematics learning. The focus is on childrenʹs play of an educational game, Treasure Hunt, and the way childrenʹs interactions in play frame developmental processes involving arithmetic with base-10 blocks. Sixty-four third and fourth graders were grouped in same- and mixed-grade dyads. Analyses of interactions revealed that players were frequently involved with jointly structuring arithmetical problems involving base-10 blocks. However, the arithmetical goals that members of dyads created often differed as labor became divided in their activity. Two findings were of particular interest: (1) differences in divisions of labor as a function of playersʹ grades and grades of their opponents led to construction of different arithmetical goals, and (2) differences in goals led to different sequences in childrenʹs strategic developments, sequences that differed from the developmental trajectory in our matched controls.